Mohammad Kaif hailed Team India captain Rohit Sharma for his clarity of thought as captain as he has decided to give Shubman Gill and KL Rahul and long run in ODIs. The India team has preferred the combo of Gill and Rahul in the first two matches against Sri Lanka over Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav who are also going through a purple patch with the bat.
Gill was impressive with the bat as an opener in the first ODI with his 70-run knock and also started well in the second match but failed to convert it into a big score and was dismissed on 12. It was a game for Rahul to shine as he scored a gritty half-century to help India take an unassailable 2-0 lead in three-match series.
Kaif feels it’s a tough call to pick between the two combos (Ishan and SKY or Gill and KL) as all four of them have played some good knocks in recent times in white-ball cricket.
“It’s a really tough one – Ishan + Surya or KL + Gill. I think Rohit Sharma has made it very clear as a captain. The boys have been playing for the last couple of years, they have been getting runs. Last year Gill and KL Rahul played well,” Kaif said on Star Sports
The former India cricketer suggested that Rohit is very clear in his thoughts and is not very tempted to have destructive players like Ishan and Surya in the XI and has decided to give a long run to Rahul and Gill.
“Shubman Gill is opening the innings and getting runs and KL Rahul is finishing the innings, the way he did in the last game – fantastic. What I like about Rohit Sharma is that he is very clear in his thoughts. He (Rohit) is not going flashy. Ishan Kishan and Surya will tempt you because they are fantastic players but he knows that he needs to give his players a long run, that’s why Gill and KL are playing,” he added.
During the same discussion, Sanjay Manjrekar talked about the importance of having someone like Rahul at number 5 in ODIs.
“He is a phenomenal player and it’s amazing that he has got a great record opening as well as at No. 5. Look at the average – pretty similar. For the moment, India needs him at No. 5 because of the kind of balance that we have, but I can’t say that he is better at No. 5 and not so much as an opener,” Manjrekar said.
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